Double dapple danger

Double dapple coats can be stunning – until, that is, you realise ‘at what cost’. When you know this cost, it’s surprising how quickly those coat patterns and colour become highly unattractive

Double dapple (also known as ‘double merle’ in other breeds) results from a dapple dog being crossed with another dapple. So, as the name suggests, they will produce puppies that are double dappled; that is, they carry two dapple genes. Technically, on average we will expect such a mating to yield a litter with 50% double dappled and 50% normal single dapple. In the case of a double dapple being crossed with a double dapple, then 100% of the litter will be double dappled.

An excellent diagram explaining double dapple patterning, in this case with a silver double dapple.

Danger

Double dappled pups can be born deaf and/or blind. This abnormality is caused by the combination of two dapple genes for coat pattern. That is, it’s caused by breeding a dapple coat dog to another dapple coat dog. And this holds true for all breeds; the combo of dapple (also called merle) genes in the one pup risks that puppy being born deaf and/or blind. Often the deafness or blindness is associated with that area being white; that is, white covers the deaf ear and the blind eye. In any given double dapple litter, one puppy, no puppies, or all puppies might be affected.

In double dapple dogs, the white in the coat occurs where the two dapple genes are both interacting. This has a bleaching effect – a double overlay effect – hence the white colour. Note this is very different genetic action to the piebald gene which is delivering a genuine white (no pigment) coat as opposed to a ‘masked’ one.

What do they look like?

Double dapples are characterised by having large areas of white and particularly over the ears and eyes. This can range from an entire white chest blending off to a silver/grey/black ermine patterning, right through to a single colour splotched about in big amounts but still with lots of white. In other words, ‘white’ is a dominating factor of a double dapple.

Typically they do not have uniform colouring on their heads; that is, they might have one side of the head white or an ear white. They characteristically have blue eyes and/or wall eyes (eyes ringed with with a big circle of white). Blue eyes or wall eyes in themselves are not an issue, it’s just when combined with the double dapple pattern it’s a defining feature.

Here are some pictures to get you familiar with the double dapple. Large white over ears and eyes is a generally a giveaway. Also, their siblings. If there are single dapple puppies in the litter and no solid coloured (pattern free) puppies, chances are both parents had the dapple gene.

Double Dappled Pix:

White on half of face, covering ear and eye. Full white chest. White belt. Dapple pattern elsewhere.White over one side of head, taking in the eye and ear. White chest and shoulders. Dapple elsewhere.Double dapple adults with their 100% double dapple litter. Note white on face and chest. Two puppies have more even head marking wrt colour coverage, but the giveaway here is the extensive white with the normal dapple pattern.White half of face, white chest and legs, normal dapple elsewhere.Half white face, possibly blind in that eye.A double dapple pup on the left with a single (normal) dapple pup. Probably siblings. This double dapple has head colouring, but a lot of patterning on the coat does not have distinct edges or shapes.

Head has good coverage over ears and eyes, but extensive white elsewhere and the normal dapple in between.

Extensive white coinciding with the normal dapple pattern.

A typical double dapple litter resulting from the crossing of two single (normal) dappled parents. Two pups are single dapple, three are double dappled.

And here’s that same litter with their dappled mum. Can you pick which pups are the double dapple?

Another pic of a normal single dapple with a double dappled sibling.This poor baby looks blind in that eye covered by white.White face, white belt, big black area on ear and normal dapple elsewhere. Exquisite – if you don’t know the implications, that is.

Don’t confuse with piebald

To the untrained eye, some double dapples can be mistaken for piebalds. Be wary of this, because unethical or incompetent breeders could be passing off double dappled puppies as piebalds. Piebald is a totally different pattern and gene (like brindle is) and has ZERO health implications. Piebald is found in many breeds; the jack russell, beagle, basset hound, foxie and dachshund to name a few. This pattern is the result of two recessive piebald genes coming together and can be the result of two piebalds crossing with no genetic defects resulting.

Piebalds are rare in Australia, with Dachshund Australia (us) being the only breeder to be running a breeding program dedicated to introducing this pattern for the enjoyment of Australian dachshund lovers (and increasingly owners overseas too). Breeding pies has required an investment of 10 years in importing this pattern from the USA. Australia had no piebalds prior to this, so the chances of you finding a piebald dachshund from another breeder are quite remote.

If you see an advert in Australia for a piebald puppy, you can determine yourself if they are genuinely pie or – in fact – double dapple. This is how:

Genuine piebalds have coloured areas that are clearly defined at the edges, such as distinct spots on the body. They can have ‘ticking’, but not the dapple pattern anywhere.

Genuine piebalds do not have blue eyes (unless they are a blue piebald). They have dark eyes.

Genuine piebalds have their main colouring over both ears and both eyes and usually the head area. Extreme pies are predominantly white, but they will have solid colour (might be a pale cream) covering their ears and eye areas.

Piebald Pix:

Note the clean edges of the piebald patterning. It’s not blurred or merged with the white. Plus full colour coverage of eyes and ears.Note the dark eyes of this piebald. The little black dotting areas are known as ‘ticking’ and is perfectly normal in the piebald. Refer to the dapple pix above to see how this ticking is quite different to dappling.This pup is a bit deceptive as a pie, only because her long coat is masking the clean lines of her black patterning. Look closely and you will see the circles are distinct. Plus of course her head is fully coloured and eyes are dark.A stunning red piebald.This little guy is a chocolate piebald and is a great example of the ticking which is a common thing in piebalds. This ticking should not be confused with dappling which is very different.Another genuine pie patterning that demonstrates ticking also.I’m piebald and I’m pretty cute.

A beautiful piebald wire hair; similar to our USA Cherokee. The clear edges of his patterning are obvious on his face, but obscured by his long wiry white hair at the rear.

Another coat pattern variation that is rare but can occur is a single-dapple piebald. This comes when one parent is a double recessive for the piebald gene (hence cannot carry dapple and is a piebald in appearance) and the other parent is a single dapple.

This can be seen across various breeds and crossbreeds where the piebald pattern is common, such as Jack Russell terriers and so on. It’s rare because the piebald gene is a recessive gene and the dapple gene is dominant. Clearly there is some incomplete dominance at play when a puppy coat can display both patterns simultaneously.

Here are some examples below of the perfectly healthy coat type of single-dapple piebald. In these cases the white is coming from the genuine piebald gene and not a ‘colour wash-out’ from a double-dapple combo. Of course a puppies pedigree papers will soon reveal what might and might not be being carried through the family tree, plus the parents a puppy themselves.

In some breeds this single-dapple piebald coat pattern is referred to as ‘patterned merle’. Again, the big difference with these dogs is they are single merle/dapple (have one merle gene, not two) and they have the piebald pattern gene as well.

Tricky…but fascinating! Here are some varied examples; note colour cover the ears and eyes and he white in these dogs above is coming from the piebald gene – so perfectly normal. This contrasts to double dapples where the white occurs where the two dapple gene have coincided to effectively bleach out (or overlay) all other colours.

It is possible for a double dapple litter to have no deformities. Equally, all puppies might be deformed – so deaf and/or blind – or maybe only one. The point here is that it is unethical and immoral to bring puppies into the world where there is this risk. Whether the breeder has done this intentionally, accidentally, or through ignorance matters not, because the outcome for the puppies is the same. So whatever their reason, this a breeder to steer clear of.

If someone buys a puppy from such a breeder, their puppy might be perfectly healthy but that good health and ‘pretty pattern’ has come at the expense of a sibling (who you probably won’t know about) who is deaf and/or blind. Buying your puppy encourages such breeders to continue their unethical practises.

What else can we do?

The pictures here will let you become a bit of an expert on what a double dapple looks like. To hone your new skills think about Googling dapple dachshunds and identify the doubled dapples among them. Interestingly, in selecting the pictures here I found some pies and single dappled dogs incorrectly badged as double dapples. When you can identify these incorrectly labelled pix you’ll know you are good.

With your new expertise in mind, we can help reduce the sadness of puppies being born deaf and or blind. Namely, if you see anyone advertising double dapples perhaps consider a polite phone call or text to respectfully advise them what they have. For those breeders who have done this through ignorance, your phone call might cause at least this breeder to cease the practice. Referring them to this article might be useful.

About Fiona Douglas

Fiona Douglas B.Agr. Sc. (Hons) M. S. W.
Fiona is an Agricultural Scientist and breeder of miniature dachshunds. She also holds a masters degree in Social Work.
Fiona is passionate about the welfare of dogs and raising the quality of life for all breeding dogs. For 20 years she has been a magazine and newspaper editor, but now it's dogs full time!

Comments

I was wondering i have a black and tan female, her mother is a black and tan and father is a dapple, i bred my female with a black and tan do you think there is any chance she will have a dapple puppy ?

Hi Ashley
If your black & tan male had solid parents (no dapple) then it should be fine; that is, the chances of one of his parents being cryptic dapple AND him being a cryptic dapple are extremely unlikely. This is especially true for the black & tans, as they tend to strongly display their dappling for life (as silver dapples).
If you don’t know his folks, it is still very unlikely for the same reason: black & tans are not likely to be cryptic dapples.
On balance – assuming he has no signs of dappling in his coat – this would be a safe combo.

Do you have an email address that I could contact. I would like to send you some photos of my miniature dachshund Coco. I would like to know what type of dachshund you think she is by looking at her coat and colour.
She is almost 3 now, when I brought her from the breeder she told us that Coco is a short hair red dachshund, but now when I look at other red dachshund our little Coco doesn’t quite look like them. She almost looks like a red brindle dachshund but not as defined or maybe even and red dapple dachshund.
My concern is we’ve recently mated Coco with a chocolate dapple before knowing anything about double dapple.
So I decided to do some digging about Coco’s family tree… Coco’s grandad from the mothers side was a dapple dachshund. Could this mean Coco will have dapple genes in her?
Would love to know your thoughts?
Josie

Hi Josie
The red dapples are red with black dapples, and this should have been noticeable still if you got her as an 8 week old. If you got her much older, there is a chance the black dapples would have merged in to create the colouring you describe.
On the plus side though, for her to be a cryptic dapple (inherited from her grandfather) then one of her parents must have been a cryptic dapple too (because you don’t mention she has a dapple parent); this is an unlikely scenario … to be a cryptic dapple hereself and one of her parents to also have been a cryptic dapple. It’s possible though.
Ask her breeder if any other puppies born to the same parents as your girl have ever had a puppy who was dapple during the first weeks of life. If they have, then this would tell us your girl’s mum or dad carried the dapple gene for sure. If this is the case, then there’s a 50% chance your girl is a cryptic dapple. If – on the other hand – her parents have never thrown a dapple pup, then it’s highly unlikely your girl secretly carries the dapple gene.
If worst happens and you have double dapple puppies, remember on average half the litter will be single dapple and half double dapple. So half will be fine (on average). Of the double dapple puppies, there’s probably a 25% chance any one of those will have sight and/or hearing problems and these will become apparent when they reach about 7 weeks of age.
Key thing is if you do have any double dapple puppies born I suggest offering them desexed, or charge more and give the owner a rebate when they send you the desex certificate in a few months time. If one happens to be disabled, you will be able to find them a loving home that can accommodate their disability.
Fingers crossed all will go well.
Thank you for writing in and it’s great that we can share this information amongst breeders.
Cheers
Fi

I have a black and tan female, her father is a black and tan dapple. However she has no silver patches on her, she has some black mixed in with her tan on one leg . Would she still be a carrier of dapple. I wanted to buy a male to breed her with and considered a dapple. But do not want to accidently produce a double dapple litter.

Hi Andrea
There always a risk that the solid colour progeny of a dapple mating is a cryptic dapple (carries dapple) even though what you have described is a normal black & tan. A cryptic dapple often has just the faintest dappling at birth which disappears in the first weeks of life; the dapple gene is in their DNA for life though.
For this reason it’s best to get a DNA test done for the merle gene (cheek swab at home, send-away-kit I’m pretty sure). Maybe $100, but good peace of mind especially as you have not bought her breeding mate yet.
Cheers

Thank You so much for clarification, I will do the DNA test just to make sure. I have only had reds in the past and knew very little about the dapple. My father had a negative opinion of the dapple gene all together which was told to him by his grandfather a veterinarian in the 40’s and 50’s and I followed his teachings. Later in my life I have learned that the single dapple is a healthy dog and I have grown to think highly of their markings.

Hello, I have a red dapple that I recently bred to a cream coloured chihuahua on the basis that I knew I had to only breed to a solid coloured male to avoid any double dapples. She had 2 babies and one is a black spotted on white colour. Actually the black spots that are mostly defined circles are turning blue with flecks in them. The face is even with black eyes and ears and white strip down the center. The other baby is mostly all reddish brown with some spots of darker dapple that look like shadows that may deepen. My question is how did I get this white puppy and is there a risk that it may be a double dapple ? Also, what if my female was double dapple and I wasn’t aware of it, could the baby be double dapple? I’m concerned. He’s only 2 days old.

Dear Barb
It does sound like you have one single dapple puppy (the red with the dark dapple) plus one double dapple.
First, there is a good chance your double dapple pup will be perfectly healthy. Not all double dapples are afflicted with blindness-and-or-deafness. Maybe 15% are? So wait til puppy is four to six weeks old to find out.
On the plus side, at least the double-dapple fault (ie deaf/blind) is something that you as a breeder will know before you find a home for your puppy. By this, I mean it is not a condition that ‘develops later’. So if your puppy is not deaf or blind, then they will lead a perfectly normal healthy life. And if they are, this does not mean they will get any other health problems appearing as they go thru life (as a result of being double dapple, that is).
In regard to what has happened, it is unlikely your mum is a double dapple because she does not look like a double dapple.
What is more likely is that the cream boy is what we term a ‘cryptic dapple’. This means he is genetically a dapple, but the dappling in his coat disappeared as he grew up. Sometimes a dapple pup might only have their dapples barely visible when born, in fact, and these can vanish completely by a couple of weeks old.
You can find out for sure by crossing your cream boy with a bitch who appears solid and has never had dapples (so she’s not a cryptic dapple!) and if any of the babies turn out dapple, you’ll know for sure that dad carries the dapple gene.
Hope that helps
Fi

Hello, we have a double dapple girl and we were not aware of the health problems that can be associated with the pups when we got her (we were just looking for another miniture dachshund and she was the last of the litter). She is completely fine and healthy. But, she may be pregnant.. the father is not a dachshund and is all brown. What do you think the chances are that the pups would be okay?

Hi Kyle
Good news is re any double dapples is the deformity of deafness and/or blindness are present at birth. It might be only one in a litter afflicted, none, or half the litter.
Point being if the puppy is affected you will know by six weeks of age. If they are not blind and/or deaf at six weeks of age, then they will go on to have a perfectly healthy normal life. The blindness and/or deafness does not ‘strike later’: they are either born with it or they are 100% fine.
In regard to your dog, she will be fine having puppies to any solid colour (non-dapple)dog. The dapple (merle) gene is identical in the dog species, which means she will pass a single dapple gene to every puppy.
So if she is expecting, you can look froward to an entire litter of healthy SINGLE dapple dachshund cross puppies; they should be most healthy and cute to boot!
Fi

I have read as much as I can on this and I am still a little confused. If a parent who is being labelled “piebald” is bred with a black and tan and produces dapple babies with a white tummy and also black and tan babies with a white tummy is the dog in question actually double dapple? For reference he has even pattern across his face and white extremities but his ears appear dappled.
Sorry to leave an ignorant question but I want to make sure that we are well educated for when we add a new family member.

Hi Sophie
Not an ignorant question…there’s no such thing!!
Okay, from what you say it appears the parent dog is a piebald, but carrying the dapple gene. So there has been a mix of the two patterns of piebald and merle at some stage.
The fact that he has dappled pups confirms there is the dapple (merle) gene. The fact that there is a black and tan pup (non dapple) confirms he is not a double dapple (as we’d expect every pup to be dappled if this were the case).
The prominent white on the puppies is the result of the piebald. The piebald is a recessive gene and can only properly come through if both parents are piebalds.
Summary: he is not double dapple, he is a piebald with a single merle gene. He has likely come from a dapple/piebald pattern cross.
If his puppies go on to have puppies, the black & tan will not produce dapples (unless mated to a dapple that is) and the dapple can have dapples (50% of litter) and must only be crossed to a solid colour.
If the black & tan pup is crossed to a piebald, then the litter resulting should be all piebald.
Fi

I took in a double dapple that could not see at first. His one eye seems to be completely covered with he flees of the eye the other eyes flees started retracting after some treatment and he has some vision in this eye now. He doesn’t have any white on his eyes or ears but still was affected badly. My question is – would he be able to mate or would you advice having him neutered?

Thanks for the question Noleen.
My advice here is ‘if in doubt’ don’t proceed. He is not suitable for breeding, but is obviously a lovely pet dog from what you say.
As breeders we need to start with mum and dad as the healthiest we can find, because even then nature can play a hand we not have forecast and things can go wrong (just like with human babies).
Chances are he could have a greater chance of passing the flawed gene combo on; we really don’t know, but we do know there could be a chance.

Hi Tash
It’s not advisable to cross patterns; no. No hard eveidence ‘why not’ it’s just the patterns were not intended to be mingled and therefore not much is known about the risks – if any – of crossing them.

About a year ago I acquired a dachshund puppy who I was told was a chocolate piebald. He is more of a red color with a white chest and underside, but he has one and a half blue eyes. I read your article with interest as a new dachshund owner, and it doesn’t matter to me what he is because we love him dearly, but could he not be a piebald because of his eyes?

Hi Emma
A red piebald puppy would not have blue eyes. He is a double dapple as best I can say. What I will say is that providing he is not deaf or blind right now (so from birth in other words) he should have no ill affects in later life from being double dappled. The thing now is to not go to that breeder for your next puppy though. :)) Fi

I was told by the breeder that my doxie is a triple dapple piebald. Is there such a thing?

Her ears both match the coloring on her back, which is a mix of light brown and white hairs with darker brown spots and patches. She has a white blaze that runs from almost between her ears and down to one side of her snout. The white also runs under her chin down to the entire belly. She also has three white feet. She has pretty blue eyes, and I suspect that she doesn’t see long distances. So, what is my dog? Double, triple, piebald? Some kind of combo? Two of her brothers were silver and black with blue eyes.
I’d post a pic, if I knew how.

Hi Kim
Thanks for your question.
It’s impossible to have a triple dapple. This would effectively mean the puppy was conceived by three parents which we know is impossible.
There can only be two dapple genes at most because one gene comes from mum and one from dad.
It could be the unusual patterning is due to another pattern coming through (not dapple) from genes located at a different position to the merle (dapple) gene.
As a general rule it is unwise for a breeder to ‘tempt fate’ by mixing different patterns together, or the same pattern when it comes to the unusual case of the double dapple combo flaw.

Good day I am from Namibie I have a double dapple male and a black female and a chocelete female I do breed with them ones a year sometime. I do skip for anither year. I also have a another female what is a dapple she is a daugter of my male. My questen is can I bring the father and daugter together for mating. I seperate them because I am afraid of there can come baby rhat are blund or deaf. The daughter is black and grey dapple. Father is brown and cream and white half face. Please can u advice me here I dont want abnormal pups. Rather safe. Thanks allot

Thank you so much for your VERY informative article about double dapple dachshunds.
I owned 4 min. Long hairs but I just got a chocolate and tan long haired girl puppy. During the 5 year hiatus from rescue and puppies there has been a huge increase in coat trait breeding and, like you, I am appalled by breeders who ignore warnings that crossing dd’s might produce deafness and blindness! My pup has some coat issues, as she looks like her coat won’t be full or even long…but I didn’t get her for breeding so I don’t care…but is there ANYTHING I can do to increase her fur texture?

Hi Kathy,
Thanks for your comment.
In regard to improving your dog’s coat, try a small 125g tin of sardines – including the oil – once a week. Note this is sardines for human consumption; a tin of cat food with sardines will not work.
When the gloss of the coat improves, that indicates the fur is getting healthier. At that point, see if you can reduce the amount of sardines until you find the minimum amount to maintain the lustre.
When the coat is healthy is has a chance to become the best it can become.
This might mean it is still short, but at least you know nutrition isn’t limiting things.
Let us know how you get on!
Lady Fi

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